President Bush tells world leaders at a UN General Assembly session to confront the “grave and gathering danger” of Iraq – or become “irrelevant”

16 September

Iraq accepts 'unconditional’ return of UN inspectors

24 September

Britain publishes dossier outlining the threat posed by Iraq. It includes the “45 minute claim” – that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction which could be used within 45 minutes of him giving an order

16 October

Iraq renews offer to UN weapons inspectors, after 'referendum’ gives Saddam another seven-year term as president with 100 per cent of the vote

8 November

The UN Security Council approves Resolution 1441, a US-British resolution requiring Iraq to reinstate weapons inspectors after a four year absence

13 November

Iraq’s government accepts the UN resolution

18 November

Dr Blix leads weapons inspectors back to Baghdad to relaunch search for weapons of mass destruction, backed by the UN resolution

27 November

The weapons inspectors start inspections, visiting two sites, and thank the Iraqis for their co-operation but do not comment on findings

Iraq hands over a 12,000-page weapons declaration as required by resolution 1441. The document is meant to be a current and complete account of all its chemical, biological, nuclear and missile programmes

18 December

Ministry of Defence reveals that ships are being chartered to carry troops and heavy armour to the Gulf

19 December

The United States accuses Baghdad of being in “material breach” of the UN resolution after Dr Blix said the Iraqi arms declaration contains little new information about its weapons of mass destruction capability

2003

9 January

Dr Blix tells the Security Council that there are still “many unanswered questions” about Iraq’s weapons programmes but that inspectors had not “found any smoking guns” that might trigger war

11 January

A British naval task force leaves for the Gulf headed by the HMS Ark Royal aircraft carrier

16 January

UN weapons inspectors find 12 warheads designed to carry chemical weapons. The inspectors believe the warheads were not accounted for in Iraq’s 12,000 page submission. Washington described the warheads as a “smouldering, not smoking gun”

27 January

UN inspectors present evidence to the Security Council about their search for WMD and Iraqi co-operation with resolution 1441. The report is seized on by the US and UK as proof that Iraq is not disarming, while other states argue that the inspectors need to be given more time

29 January

In his State of the Union address, President Bush announces that he is ready to attack Iraq, even without a UN mandate

Documents later released to the Chilcot Inquiry show that the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, cautioned Mr Blair: "My view remains that a further [UN] decision is required". Mr Blair wrote in the margin of the note: "I just don't understand this."

31 January

Mr Blair tells Mr Bush at a meeting in Washington that he is "solidly with the President", according to Downing Street documents that were later leaked.

14 February

Dr Blix reports to the UN again. He says Iraq must do more to prove it has no WMD

15 February

Anti-war demonstrations held in London and other cities around the world

24 February

The US, Great Britain and Spain submit a proposed resolution to UN Security Council stating Iraq has failed to take the final opportunity afforded to it in Resolution 1441

26 February

Mr Blair suffers parliamentary rebellion over handling of the crisis when 121 Labour MPs vote against him

4 March

Gordon Brown, the chancellor, makes clear his support for war by saying he is prepared to 'spend what it takes’ to disarm Iraq

5 March

Foreign ministers of France, Russia and Germany release joint declaration stating that they will 'not allow’ a resolution authorising military action to pass the UN security council

7 March

Dr Blix reports that Iraq has accelerated its co-operation but says inspectors need more time to verify Iraq’s compliance

10 March

France and Russia announce that they are ready to veto a new UN resolution which gives Iraq seven days to disarm. French President Jacques Chirac says his country would vote against any resolution that contained an ultimatum leading to war until the weapons inspectors in Iraq said they could do no more

16 March

President Bush, Mr Blair and the Spanish Premier Jose Maria Aznar meet in the Azores. They set a deadline of the end of Monday 17 March for the Security Council to back the US/UK resolution demanding immediate Iraqi disarmament. Mr Bush called it a “moment of truth for the world”

17 March

UK’s ambassador to the UN says the diplomatic process on Iraq has ended and announces the withdrawal of a draft resolution co-sponsored by the US and Spain; arms inspectors evacuate; Robin Cook, leader of the House of Commons, resigns from cabinet; Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, confirms in a written parliamentary statement that war on Iraq would be legal on the grounds of existing UN resolutions; President Bush gives Saddam and his sons 48 hours to leave Iraq or face war

Paul Bremer, a diplomat and former head of counter terrorism at the US State Department, is appointed as top civilian administrator in Iraq. He is also given authority over Jay Garner, the retired general who had been in charge of reconstruction efforts

Bremer abolishes ministries and institutions that formed the backbone of Saddam’s power structure

13 July

Iraq’s interim governing council, composed of 25 Iraqis appointed by US and British officials, meets for the first time.

18 July

Dr David Kelly is found dead after being exposed as the source of claims that the September 2002 dossier had been “sexed up”

13 December

Saddam captured

2004

28 January

Hutton Report into Dr Kelly’s death published, clearing ministers of wrongdoing and claiming reports about the September 2002 dossier were “unfounded”

14 July

Butler Report on Iraq intelligence published, saying MI6 did not check its sources well enough and relied on third hand reports. It also said the 2002 dossier should not have included the 45 minute claim without explaining what it meant

28 September

Speaking at the Labour conference, Mr Blair admits intelligence was wrong but claims the war was justified by the removal of Saddam Hussein, saying: "I can apologise for the information being wrong but I can never apologise, sincerely at least, for removing Saddam."

2005

1 May

Secret Downing Street documents appear to show Mr Blair had examined ways of justifying an invasion of Iraq with his senior staff back in July 2002, but he insisted he would have held back if Saddam had met the UN's requirements.

2007

17 November

Mr Blair insists he was right to go to war, "whatever it began as", claiming that his only regret is "not having laid out for people in a clearer way what I saw as the profound nature of this struggle".

2009

12 December

Mr Blair would still have thought it right to remove Saddam even without WMDs, he says: "I mean obviously you would have had to use and deploy different arguments about the nature of the threat."

2010

29 January

The Iraq war made the world safer, Mr Blair tells the Chilcot Inquiry, claiming that he has "no regrets" about the war that removed Saddam, who he described as a "monster".

2011

18 January

Sir Gus O'Donnell rejects repeated requests from the Chilcot Inquiry to publish notes sent by Mr Blair to Mr Bush in the build up to the war, which the inquiry describes as essential evidence in setting out the agreements that led to war.